Liquid container with dispensing valve



March 4, 1969 CONNERIS ET AL 3,430,824

LIQUID CONTAINER WiTH DISPENSINGVALVE Filed Feb. 13, 1967 Sheet 0f 5JOHN R CONNERS SAMUEL B. DAVIS BY MAHONEY.MILLER 8 RAMBO ATTORNEYS March4, 1969 J. P. C'ONNERS ET AL 3,430,824

LIQUID CONTAINER WITH DISPENSING VALVE Filed Feb. 1957 Sheet 2 of s 3/25 INVENTORS JOHN P. CONNERS i 3 BY SAMUEL B. DAVIS MAHONEY. MILLER 8-RAMBO BY (TORNFYS March 4, 1969 QQNNERS ET AL 3,430,824 I LIQUIDCONTAINER WITH DISPENSING VALVE Filed Feb. 15, 1967 Sheet 3 of 5INVENTORS 3 11 JOHN P. CONNERS 7 45 SAMUEL B. DAVIS J BY MAHONEY. MILLEATTORNEYS United States Patent M 3,430,824 LIQUID CONTAINER WITHDISPENSING VALVE John P. Conners, Lancaster, and Samuel B. Davis,Columbus, Ohio, assignors to The Corrugated Container Company, Columbus,Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Feb. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 615,753 US.Cl. 222-523 3 Claims Int. Cl. B67d 3/00; 365d 25/44 ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLGSURE According to this invention, a container is provided forliquids and is preferably of rigid or semirigid thermoplastic resinmaterial. The container is provided with a neck having an openingthrough which the container is filled with liquid and also through whichthe liquid is dispensed. Mounted on this neck is a dispensing valveassembly of novel form which is also preferably of thermoplastic resinmaterial. The container neck is so disposed and the valve assembly is sopositioned therein that normally all parts of the valve assembly, aswell as the container neck, are disposed in a pocket which is recessedwithin adjacent wall surfaces of the container so that the valveassembly is protected from damaging contact with surfaces such as thesurfaces of a shipping case in which one or more of the containers aredisposed. The valve assembly includes a dispensing valve and a mountingand positioning means for movably mounting it on the container neck. Themounting and positioning means permits the bodily movement of the valvefrom a retracted position within the pocket to an extended positionWhere the valve can be actuated readily between closed and openedpositions and where a receiving tumbler or cup can be positionedeffectively relative thereto to receive the dispensed liquid.

In the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a preferredembodiment of a liquid container and associated dispensing valveassembly according to this invention but it is to be understood thatvarious specific modifications can be made without departing from basicprinciples of the invention.

In these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of the liquidcontainer with the dispensing valve assembly mounted thereon showing thecontainer resting on its bottom wall surface in dispensing position.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the lowercorner of the container with the valve assembly mounted thereon.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the corner portionof the container at which the filling and dispensing neck is disposedshowing the container in such a position that the neck axis is vertical,which is the filling position of the container.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of thedispensing valve assembly spaced from the associated container neck atthe recessed corner of the container.

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view or face view of the valve assemblytaken substantially from the position indicated at line 55 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged axial sectional view of the dispensing valveassembly on the container with the valve assembly retracted and thevalve closed.

FIGURE 7 is a View similar to FIGURE 6 with the valve assembly extendedinto dispensing position and with the valve opened.

FIGURE 8 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 8-8of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the 3,430,824 PatentedMar. 4, 1969 container and valve assembly mounted thereon, positioned ina shipping case with the valve assembly and associated container neckprotected from contact with the case.

FIGURE 10 is a schematic view showing the container positioned on ashelf with the valve mounting means extended so as to dispose the valvein dispensing position beyond the shelf.

FIGURE 11 is a view similar to FIGURE 10 but showing the valve opened todispense the liquid from the container.

With specific reference to the drawings, the liquid container isindicated in FIGURE 1 generally by the numeral 15 and the dispensingvalve assembly mounted thereon is indicated generally by the numeral 20.

The container 15 is preferably substantially rigid or semirigid andformed from thermoplastic resin material such as polyethylene,propylene, or the like. It is preferably formed by a blowing operationso that it will have relative thin wall sections and, consequently, willhave a minimum overall weight. It is formed with a recess or pocketrecessed within the contour of the container and shown in the preferredexample as a recessed corner 16 which preferably extends completelytransversely across that corner of the container which would be formedby continuations of the vertical plane of the flat front wall 17 and thehorizontal plane of the flat bottom wall 19. All of the other cornerjunctions of the various walls of the container 15 are at substantiallyright angles and it will be noted that the container is, with theexception of the corner 16, of substantially cubical form, havingrectangular longitudinal vertical, longitudinal horizontal andtransverse vertical cross-section. In one example, the container is madefor containing and dispensing milk and will be made of standard orcommon forms or sizes such that two of the containers will fit snuglyside-byside in the usual wire shipping or handling cases now commonlyemployed in home-delivery dairies.

The container 15 is provided at the corner 16 with the neck 21 which isformed integral with the angularlydisposed transverse wall 22 whichextends the full width of the front of the container and joins the frontwall 17 with the bottom wall 19. The axis of the neck 21 is normal tothe plane of the wall 22 and, therefore, is downwardly and outwardlyinclined. Therefore, the integral neck 21 extends downwardly andoutwardly from the lower front portion of the container and there willbe a gravity flow of liquid from the container through the neck 21 whenthe filled or partially filled container is resting on the bottom 19 andthe valve of the assembly 20' is open.

The angular disposition of the neck 21 not only provides for mountingthe valve assembly 20 in a convenient protected location but alsofacilitates manufacture of the container in a blow mold. The neck willbe formed at the continuous neck ring of the blow mold and will be freeof mold parting lines. This is important in producing the outwardlyprojecting continuous sealing lip 23 on the exterior of the neck whichis spaced slightly axially inwardly from the outer extremity thereof andwhich is free of projections so as to provide for a more effective seal.Axially inwardly of the sealing ring 23, a heavier reinforcing ring 24is also preferably formed on the neck. The neck will be semirigid butcan be flexed to some extent which is desirable in mounting the valveassembly 20 thereon. Also, the disposition of the neck 21 as indicatedmakes it possible to substantially fill the container, the filling beingaccomplished by a filler machine nozzle engaging the neck 21. Since thecontainer 15 is substantially rigid, it must be provided with a ventopening. This may be provided by means of a hollow teat 27 which mayproject from the container at the upper and forward corner thereof andwhich may be snipped off to provide the vent opening so that airpressure can enter the container and cause the liquid to flow therefromwhen the valve is opened.

As indicated, the valve assembly 20 is adapted to be mounted on the neck21 and it is so formed, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, that it can bemounted with its main axis horizontal, that is, parallel with the bottomwall 19 or at a right angle to the vertical front wall 17. The valveassembly 20 is shown best in FIGURES 1, and 48 and is made of asubstantially rigid thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene, propylene,or the like. It is preferably molded and includes a cap portion 28having an integral guide-sleeve 30 formed thereon with the cap portiontilted or at an angle to the axis of the guide-sleeve. Mounted in theguide-sleeve 30 in sliding telescopic relationship thereto is avalve-mounting and positioning sleeve 35 and mounted in the sleeve 35 insliding telescopic relationship thereto is the dispensing valve member40.

The cap portion 28 has an annular inwardly extending peripheral flangeor skirt 29 formed thereon and, as indicated in FIGURE 6, this flange isprovided with a continuous annular locking groove 31 on its innersurface which is adapted to receive the locking ring 23 when the skirt29 is slipped over the neck. This groove is so located that when theskirt is slipped over the neck, the ring 23 will snap into the grooveand lock the cap portion on the neck. A sealing means is provided by aninwardly extending lip flange 32 which engages the outer surface of aninner skirt 33 which is concentric with the skirt 29. Thus, the cap 28is provided with an inwardly opening annular socket G4 which receivesthe neck 21, and the neck and walls of the socket are provided withassociated engaging locking and sealing portions. The outer skirt 29 issubstantially rigid and will engage the neck extremity as it ispositioned in the socket 34 and, if necessary, will flex the neck tocause the sealing lip 32 thereof to engage the inner skirt 33 with aneffective sealing contact. Thus, if the neck 21 becomes slightlyout-of-round during the curing of the resin thereof, it will be reshapedas it is forced into the socket 34. To facilitate entrance of the neckextremity into the socket, the inner skirt 33 is provided with a beveledsurface 36 at its outer surface and inner extremity which serves to camthe extremity of the neck into the socket. As indicated, locking of thecap on the neck is provided for by the ring 23 snapping into the groove31 of the outer skirt 29.

As indicated previously and as shown best in FIGURES 6 and 7, the valvemounting and positioning sleeve 35 is slidably telescopically positionedin the guide-sleeve 30. Both sleeves are of annular form andconcentrically disposed. The sleeve 30 is of uniform diameter throughoutits length and has a smooth inner surface. The sleeve 35 extendscompletely through the sleeve 30 and projects therefrom at both itsinner and outer ends. Its projecting inner end is provided with anannular radially outwardly projecting stop ring or shoulder 37 whichwill engage the inner end of the sleeve 30 (FIGURE 7) to limit outwardaxial relative sliding movement of the sleeve 35 when it is extended toits outermost position. The outer projecting end of the sleeve 35 isprovided with a radially outwardly projecting flange 38 which serves asa finger grip. The outer surface of the sleeve 35 is smooth except thatit is provided with a series of axially spaced sealing rings 39 and asealing and stop ring 41. The latter ring 41 preferably projectsoutwardly to a greater extent and a plurality of the rings 39 arelocated axially on each side thereof. When the sleeve 35 is retractedinto the sleeve 30 (FIGURE 6), all these rings serve as sealing ringsbetween the sleeve 30 and the sleeve 35. When extended (FIGURE 7), thering 41 will snap into position and engage the outer end of the sleeve30 and normally prevent axial movement of the sleeve 35 back into thesleeve 30, outward axial movement being prevented by the ring 37. Thus,the sleeve will be restrained from moving axially in either directionbut is desired, it could be forced back into the sleeve 30, since thering 41 will yield under sufficient pressure. The inner surface of thesleeve is mainly smooth and continuous but of the sleeve 35 is mainlysmooth and continuous but an inwardly projecting stop shoulder or ring42 is formed thereon toward the outer end of the sleeve but spacedaxially inwardly thereof. In addition, at its extreme outer end, thereis provided an inwardly extending sealing ring 43. With the sleeve 35 ofthe form described, there is a liquid passage 44 formed therein andextending axially completely therethrough.

The valve member is also in the form of an annular sleeve and, asindicated above, is telescopically slidably mounted in the supportingand positioning sleeve 35 and is in concentric relationship thereto.This sleeve has a liquid passageway 46 formed therein and extendingaxially thereof, being open at its inner end and being closed at itsouter end by an integral cap and tab pull 45. This cap can be grippedwith the fingers to axially move the valve 40 in the sleeve 35. It is inthe form of a projecting flange which is partly semicircular, asindicated in FIG- URE 8, but has a radially extending integral arrow orpointer 47. Toward its outer end, the valve member is provided with adispensing opening 48 leading from the passage 46 with its axis radiallydisposed. The tip of the arrow 47 is in the same axial plane as thecenter of the opening 48 and the tip will always point toward thatopening. The inner end of the valve member 40 is provided with aradially projecting stop shoulder or ring 49 which is adapted to contactwith the shoulder 42 of the surrounding sleeve 35 to limit outward axialmovement of the valve sleeve 40 relative to the sleeve 35. It will benoted that the outer surface 48 of the sleeve 40 is of nonuniformdiameter having a gradual taper from its larger diameter outer end to asmaller diameter point close to its inner end at the stop shoulder orring 49. Its larger end is of somewhat greater diameter than theinternal diameter at the sealing ring 43 and, consequently, when thevalve 40 is pushed inwardly, it will wedge tightly into sealingengagement with the ring 43 will be held in its inner sealing and closedposition until actually pulled outwardly by means of the tab pull 45.

In use of the container and valve assembly, the container 15 will befilled with the liquid through the neck 21 and then the valve assembly20 will be mounted thereon with the positioning sleeve 35 in itsretracted position, as shown in FIGURE 6, at which time the flange 38contacts with the outer end of the cap sleeve 30. The ring 41 willcreate sufficient frictional force on the interior of the sleeve 30 tokeep the sleeve 35 in its retracted position and will provide a sealbetween the exterior of the sleeve 35 and the interior of the sleeve 30intermediate the axial extent of the sleeve 30. The valve sleeve 40 atthis time will be pushed inwardly as far as possible with its tab pullin flat contact with the finger-engaging flange 38. The valve sleeve 40will be wedged into this inner axial position within the sleeve 35 andwill tend to stay there. The opening 48 will be disposed axiallyinwardly of the outer end of the sleeve 35 and will be covered thereby.In addition, there will be a sealing action between the enlarged outerend of the sleeve 40 and the surrounding sleeve 35 axially outwardly ofthe opening 48. Thus, liquid will be prevented from flowing from thepassage 46 out through the opening 48. One or more of the containers 15may be positioned in a case C, as indicated in FIGURE 9, and it will benoted that the valve assembly will be recessed in the corner pocket 16so that it will not be damaged by contact with the corner of the case.

When the container reaches the consumer, it is removed from the case andmay be supported in dispensing position with its bottom wall 19 restingon a shelf S. The container will be vented at 27 and care will be takenthat the pointer 47, instead of pointing upwardly, as in FIG- URE 4,will point straight downwardly, as indicated in FIGURE 8, to insure thatthe dispensing opening 48 is lowermost so that liquid will flowdownwardly properly from the container when the valve is opened. Theaxis of the valve member 40 will now be horizontal and its outer or tabend 45 will be in substantially vertical alignment with the outer edgeof the shelf, as indicated by broken lines in FIGURE 10. However, toproperly position the valve for dispensing without interference with theshelf, the positioning sleeve 35 is pulled outwardly to the full lineposition indicated in FIGURE 10. This can be accomplished by grippingthe flange 38 and pulling axially outwardly on the sleeve 35 to overcomefriction at the ring 41 and move the sleeve outwardly until the ringsnaps in front of the outer extremity of the sleeve 30, as shown inFIGURE 7. At this time, the flange 38 will be outwardly beyond the edgeof the shelf but the opening 48 will still be covered by the sleeve 35since the valve sleeve member 40 will still be in its inner positionretracted into the sleeve 35 and no liquid can escape since the openingis closed and there is a tight seal outwardly beyond the openingproduced by the wedging action of the outer portion of the sleeve 40within the outer portion of the sleeve 35. To dispense the liquid, thepull tab 45 is grasped with the fingers and the valve sleeve 40 ispulled axially outwardly, as indicated in FIGURE 11, to overcome thewedging action and the downwardly directed opening 48 will be moved to adispensing position which will be well beyond the outer edge of theshelf S. This will facilitate positioning of a receiving cup or tumblerT therebelow to receive the gravity flow of liquid discharging throughthe outlet opening 48. At this time, there will be a seal behind theopening 48 provided by the ring 43 so that there will be no leakagebetween the two sleeves 35 and 40.

When it is desired to again close the valve, the fingers of one hand canstraddle the projecting sleeve 35 behind the flange 38 and the thumb canpush inwardly on the tab 45 to move the valve sleeve 40 back into thesleeve 35 in a wedged closed and sealed position.

It will be apparent that this invention provides a dispensing packagewhich includes a liquid container of a novel structure and a cooperatingvalve assembly of a novel structure which together form a cooperatingcombination effective for dispensing various liquids, especially forhome consumption, the combination being such that it can be readilysupported on a refrigerator shelf in dispensing position with the aXisof the valve horizontal or parallel to the plane of the shelf. Thecontainer and valve combination can be readily handled without danger ofdamage to the valve assembly due to the fact that the valve assembly isin a pocket recessed within the contour of the container. The containerand valve assembly can both be formed inexpensively of plastic so thatthe combination can be used once only and not returned to the dairy forrefilling.

Many advantages of the invention have been discussed above and otherswill be apparent.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed 1. A dispensingpackage comprising a container and a dispensing valve assembly mountedthereon, said container being of a semirigid material and a selectedcontour surface and having a recess formed in the surface thereof withinsaid surface, an outlet for the container at said recess through whichit may be filled and through which the contents of the container maydischarge having a connecting axially fixed guide-sleeve portionextending outwardly from said outlet but disposed within said recess soas not to project beyond the adjacent contour surface of the container,said valve assembly comprising a valve member in the form of a hollowvalve sleeve having a closed outer end and an open inner end, with adispensing opening leading radially outwardly therefrom adjacent theouter end of said sleeve, a positioning sleeve open at both its innerand outer ends in which said valve sleeve is slidably disposed for axialtelescopic movement between a retracted position where said dispensingopening thereof is within and closed by the positioning sleeve and anextended position where the opening is outwardly beyond the outer end ofthe positioning sleeve in opened position, said positioning sleeve beingmounted for axial sliding telescopic movement within said guide-sleeveportion for movement between a retracted and an extended position sothat when the valve sleeve is in retracted condition within thepositioning sleeve and the positioning sleeve is in retracted positionwithin the guide sleeve portion, the outer end of the valve sleeve willbe disposed with-in said recess and the associated contour surface ofthe container but when the positioning sleeve is extended outwardly ofthe guide sleeve portion, the outer end of it will be outwardlypositioned out of said recess and outwardly of said contour surface tofacilitate telescopic sliding movement of the valve sleeve in thepositioning sleeve and so that when the valve sleeve is extendedoutwardly of said positioning sleeve into dispensing position, thedispensing opening thereof will also be located outwardly of said recessand the associated contour surface to facilitate positioning of areceiving receptacle relative thereto, said positioning sleeve and saidguide sleeve portion having interfitting portions to hold thepositioning sleeve in its extended outermost axial position relative tosaid guide sleeve portion, said container surface of the containerincluding a vertical wall and a horizontal bottom wall with the recessbeing located between said walls to include as a portion thereof anangle transversely extending inner connecting wall joining said walls,said outlet being located along said angle connecting wall portionintermediate the extent thereof with the connected guide sleeve portionhaving its axis substantially parallel to the horizontal plane of thesaid container bottom wall.

2. A dispensing package according to claim 1 in which the container isprovided with an outwardly projecting neck surrounding said outlet onsaid angled wall having its axis normal to said angled wall and havingan outer open end which is inwardly within said vertical plane of saidvertical wall, and means for mounting the guide sleeve portion on saidneck, said means comprising a flanged cap sealingly engaging the outerend of said neck and carrying said guide sleeve portion with its axis atan angle to said cap so that the guide sleeve portion will have its axisparallel to the horizontal plane of the said container bottom wall andnormal to the plane of the said container vertical wall.

3. A dispensing package according to claim 2 in which said flanged capcomprises a substantially disc-like portion with inner and outerconcentric flanges thereon providing an inwardly opening annular socketfor receiving said neck which projects outwardly from said angled walland is subtantially annular, said neck having an inwardly extendingcontinuous annular sealing lip extremity and an outwardly extendingcontinuous locking ring, said outer flange having a continuous groovefor receiving the locking ring to force the inner flange in contact withsaid inwardly extending sealing lip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,006,078 10/1911 Fulford 2225231,745,382 2/1930 Rogers 222568 X 2,162,452 6/1939 Elser 222523 2,574,99111/1951 Waite 22292 2,772,037 11/1956 Rieke 222541 X 3,085,721 4/1963Goldstein 21574 X 3,173,579 3/1965 Curie et a1. 222258 X 3,315,8504/1967 Gran 222569 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

NORMAN L. STACK, lR., Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 222568

